Towards BIWAKO BIENNALE 2025

Everything changes shape and continues to pass the time forever amid flux.

Originally, the Biennale was scheduled to be held every two years, so the 11th edition was scheduled for 2024. However, last year, it was held in Shanghai from September 21 to December 8 as Pre-BIWAKO Biennale 2025, focusing on PR to China. This year is the year of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, which will be held after half a century. We would like people who visit Japan for the Expo to also visit Shiga, so the Biennale was postponed to this year. I remember that at the time of the last EXPO70, when it was still not easy to travel abroad, people who were filled with admiration and curiosity for unknown countries visited every day and formed long lines. This time, the excitement is not as strong as it was then, but now that what was only a science fiction world at the time has become a reality, it may be fun to see the changes with the times.

This year marks the 11th BIWAKO Biennale, which began in 2001. Omihachiman has also undergone a transformation as it continues to serve as the main exhibition venue. When it first began, it was a beautiful town that retained the atmosphere of the Edo period, but abandoned vacant houses stood out and it had a quiet and lonely appearance. However, with each passing year, the vacant houses have gradually been repurposed into cafes, boutiques, lodgings, and more. Today, the town has been revitalized and now thrives with the smiles of its visitors. We are delighted to see this place, once prosperous during the Edo and Meiji periods, charting a new path forward and evolving into a vibrant and lively community.

The theme of this exhibition is "流転〜FLUX".

All things change and never stay the same. Even our own cells, which we recognize as individuals, are constantly dying and regenerating, and we cannot be the same for even a moment. Not only we humans, but everything in this world cannot escape this process of creation and change. Even the vast universe will continue to transform without stopping for a moment, and will eventually come to an end. But who knows whether death itself will really be the end? Invisible energy itself does not vanish, but reappears in a different form, which seems similar to the town beginning to carve out a new life as it is reborn. When the yin ends, the yang signs appear, and when when the yang ends, the yin signs appear. Everything may be in a wave of change of form and flow.

At BIWAKO Biennale 2025, we offer a slightly mysterious and very rich time to feel the swell of change through art and think about the universe, under the theme of "Flux". Please come to the town of Omihachiman this fall. Let's spend a memorable trip together. We look forward to seeing you.

General Director Nakata Yoko